By Chris Sherman
It’s a going-out-of-business sale! All veterans must go! The Eagles are filing for bankruptcy, getting rid of their debt, and starting anew. The Eagles, this offseason, have released or traded away seven veterans under contract in Will Witherspoon, Brian Westbrook, Reggie Brown, Chris Clemons, Shawn Andrews, Kevin Curtis, and Darren Howard. Six of whom have been starters in an Eagles’ uniform at some point. That’s 57 years of experience the Eagles just shed averaging over 8 years per player. It also appears as if Donovan McNabb and his 12 years of experience are on the trading block. If I were Sheldon Brown, Juqua Parker, or Quintin Mikell, I would be VERY concerned about the consequences of having a mediocre season in 2010. Jeremiah Trotter probably knows for sure that his career with the Eagles is finally at an end.
So Howie Roseman, probably along with Andy Reid and Joe Banner, has decided to start rebuilding the Eagles, and that starts with making them younger. The big downside is that, from where we are now, I can’t see how the Eagles can possibly be a Superbowl caliber team for the 2010 season. Even under the assumption that McNabb is leaving (and yes, to all you Donovan-haters, I consider McNabb’s departure to be a detriment to this offense), the offense still looks powerful. Kevin Kolb, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Brent Celek, and Leonard Weaver are all extremely dangerous position players combined with an offensive line that I think will range anywhere from pretty good to very good. The problem that emerges is that we all know football is a very physical sport and no team gets through to the end of the season without injuries. For the Eagles’ offense to be successful, LeSean McCoy HAS to stay healthy (which at the RB position isn’t exactly a given). Mike Bell was a good pickup as a change-up back and he may well be the answer to Philadelphia’s red-zone woes, but god help this team if he ends up being the starter (for all you Reid-haters out there, watch what happens to the run-pass ratio with Bell as the starting tailback, lol). Weaver might play some at tailback in that scenario, but without a backup fullback he can only run out of single-back sets. At wide receiver, I don’t see a clear fill-in if Jackson or Maclin goes down. Jason Avant is more suited to be a slot receiver and Hank Baskett lining up as a starter would all-but guarantee either a blitz or double-coverage on his compliment. In a previous article of mine (“Too Soon to Celebrate on Andrews”) I already pointed out how pitifully shallow the offensive line’s depth appears.
Rebuilding seems odd after an 11-5 season doesn’t it? But maybe that’s exactly what we need to cross that finish line and bring the Lombardi trophy down Broad Street. As much as I hate the idea of giving up on the now, I’m surely not the only Eagle fan who has wondered whether the “window of opportunity” is closed. Maybe Howie Roseman got rid of the older players so he could build a new team around a new core of leaders. Much like the Phillies built a championship-winning team around a core of playmakers Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard, perhaps the Eagles are looking to build a championship-winning team around a core of playmakers Kolb, Jackson, Maclin, McCoy, Celek, Trent Cole, and Stewart Bradley. It’s a risky move for a first-time GM, and I’m not sold on the concept yet, but maybe just maybe it could work.
P.S. Good luck to the Philadelphia Union in their debut match tonight against Seattle! I’ll be writing something about them soon, so stay tuned if you enjoy both forms of football.
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